HELP... How to start a clothing line??

[tn123]

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[abovetheclouds9]

 
So I have an idea for button downs that i would like to execute. How do I go about it, let's say I designed the shirt on paper what is my next step.

How exactly does 1 get a sample, who do I see? I figure I need the shirt made from scratch because I looked at websites but they offer shirts in bulk like hanes, gildon etc..

And after a sample is gotten now I just order tons of these shirts?

you'd have more luck asking other websites like t-shirtforums.com

 

[concordefliteschool]

wouldn't mind someone sharing some info on this subject either.

 

[DadNboujee]

Unless you got skills and supplies to make your own samples. Most (I didn't say all) distributors like supply houses who provide blank shirts in bulk won't sell to you without a tax I.d. For your company. There is more to it. But that's a start. My friends run a clothing line. So I know part of what's going on.

 

[wj4]

So I have an idea for button downs that i would like to execute. How do I go about it, let's say I designed the shirt on paper what is my next step.

How exactly does 1 get a sample, who do I see? I figure I need the shirt made from scratch because I looked at websites but they offer shirts in bulk like hanes, gildon etc..

And after a sample is gotten now I just order tons of these shirts?

You need to have money first off, and a business plan/idea that separates you from the rest....which is hard to do in this industry.

Also, are your 'button downs' really button downs? A button down is a type of collar that has buttons to hold them down. A lot of people just call all dress/casual shirts 'button downs'.

What makes your design stand out from the rest? From mall brands like Gap to fast fashion brands like H&M to niche boutiques like Epaulet or high end places like Barneys?

You draft a pattern on paper, now you need to source the fabrics and find a place to make samples, be it locally or abroad. You're going to need to buy fabrics in bolts and sign contracts for factories to take you seriously to make your stuff, unless you can find someone to do it locally per diem, but labor will be expensive locally. Once you get the samples, you may want to do some tweaking, ensure that quality is up to par, colors are right, might want to wash it to ensure fit and quality after.

Order a tons of shirts after? That sounds like a recipe for failure unless you have a huge demand or have a huge list of customers already. You may want to look at smaller batches, different approaches like Just In Time, etc.


Most importantly, don't just make stuff because you think it's cool. You may think it's cool, but if no one else does...failure is eminent. You need to conduct marketing researches/surveys. Surveymonkey is free. Show your drafts around to get feedbacks, as well as prices, etc. I wish you success, but just know you're in for an uphill battle.

 

[DadNboujee]

Oh yeah like the guy mentioned above. MONEY. And I don't mean like I have 200 for a sample. You gotta have racks on racks sitting. I think when my friends did their samples for their cut n sew drop they dropped 20k+

 

[octobersveryown]

 
So I have an idea for button downs that i would like to execute. How do I go about it, let's say I designed the shirt on paper what is my next step.

How exactly does 1 get a sample, who do I see? I figure I need the shirt made from scratch because I looked at websites but they offer shirts in bulk like hanes, gildon etc..

And after a sample is gotten now I just order tons of these shirts?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1299365/

 

[shake]

Financially you can find investors if your business plan is solid. As for creating graphics, there are ways of transferring your physical graphics to a media file on your computer. Once you have your graphic as a file, you can pretty much put it on anything.